Tuscarora approves budgets

At its regular board meeting Wednesday, The Tuscarora Township Board of Trustees approved budgets for the 2013-2014 year and set meeting dates for the upcoming year, including next year's annual meeting to by held June 30, 2014.

Comment

By MARY BARKERmbarker@cheboygantribune

Cheboygan Daily Tribune - Cheboygan, MI

By MARY BARKERmbarker@cheboygantribune

Posted Jun. 29, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By MARY BARKERmbarker@cheboygantribune

Posted Jun. 29, 2013 at 12:01 AM

INDIAN RIVER

At its regular board meeting Wednesday, The Tuscarora Township Board of Trustees approved budgets for the 2013-2014 year and set meeting dates for the upcoming year, including next year's annual meeting to by held June 30, 2014.

Regular meetings will be held on the first Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. There will not be a July, 2013 meeting. It was announced at the meeting that sumer tax bills would be in the mail Friday. Residents have until Sept. 14, to pay.

The police department, downtown development authority, (DDA), and general budgets all won approval from the board with little change from the previous year's budgets. The general township operating budget had projected revenues of $740,100 and projected expenses of $740,046.

Township clerk Susan Fisher said the trustees typically estimate expenses on the high end when planning for the upcoming year. The budget included a 2.5 percent raise for the township assessor, Mike Ridley, who also serves as mayor and for the township office administrator. Fisher serves as office administrator in addition to her elected position as clerk.

The township's police department budgeted revenues of $815,440 and expenses of $865,718, with a fund balance of $299,477.

Fisher explained the township traditionally estimates high on the expense side of the police budget for a worst-case scenario that could occur in the unusual circumstance that the majority of the staff left their job. In that situation, the township would be responsible for unpaid casualty and vacation pay. It is expected that the extra expenses will not be incurred and will return to the budget at year's end.

The DDA budget projected revenues and expenses for the 2013-2014 year at $364,344, up slightly from the previous year as work begins on both the pathways and streetscape projects.

In other action at the meeting Cindy Poquette, Indian River Area library director, said the township would no longer be able to continue penal fine contracts with Koehler, Walker, Ellis or Burt townships. She said the board could not negotiate an equitable plan with those entities that would certify them.

Residents from those townships for the past 30-plus years have been treated the same as Tuscarora Township residents, making them eligible for free library services. They will now be required to pay a nonresident fee of $20 for library usage.

In other cost-saving measures, the library will cut nine hours a week. It will be closed on Saturdays and will be moving its regular opening hour to 11 a.m. Poquette said these measures would be in place for at least the next two years. The library will expand its Friday hours, closing at 8 p.m.

Also, at Wednesday's meeting, resident Tom Hart asked the board why it accepts public comments during its regular meeting, but not questions. He said it was offensive not to answer questions from the citizenry. Several trustees commented that in the past their answers to questions have been misconstrued, wrongly repeated or resulted in unprofessional name-calling.

Page 2 of 2 - Fisher, township clerk, and Bobbi Balazovic, township treasurer, defended the practice stating that if a person misspoke or didn't have the right information or circumstances changed, they have been called “liars” and had words twisted.

Trustee Craig Waldron pointed out that it is standard practice for governmental boards to only talk public comments at their regular meetings and that Tuscarora Township is not unique in this method.

He said citizens can be placed on the agenda by calling the clerk ahead of time and making a specific request to speak.